Recovered By Grace Series

RECOVERED BY GRACE

Romans 5

Introduction

We are calling today Recovery Sunday for a few reasons. We rejoice with the recovery community that meets in our building because lives are being saved, rebuilt, and refocused. We realize that everyone is recovering from the wounds, hurts, and hangups of our lives. The destruction of sin in our lives is impossible to ignore. The recovery we long for is found only in Jesus Christ.

Brennan Manning “My deepest awareness of myself is that I am deeply loved by Jesus Christ and I have done nothing to earn or deserve it.”

Paul might not use the term recovery, but he does tell us that when life has beaten us up, there is hope to be found in Christ alone. Romans 1:16 “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes…”

Sin and consequences is a problem that every person faces, but grace is the gift that brings us new life, new beginnings, and new hope. In Romans 4 Paul uses the imperfect but faithful Abraham to remind us that being righteous / in good standing before God is a gift that comes by faith. Faith doesn’t fix it all.

When life knocks us down we can’t always fix it - we can’t always make things right - we can’t always be victorious. The reality of recovery is that we face hard things in life. How can we have a sense of peace and hope? Some circumstances seem too big, some weights too heavy, and some burdens we cannot overcome. When life knocks us down, how can we possibly take a stand? Our answers are not on the self-help shelf, they are in the Bible. And it all starts with God.

We experience the recovery that God offers by grace. He promises…

1. YOU CAN EXPERIENCE PEACE (Romans 5:1)

We experience peace because we are no longer expecting the wrath of God in our lives. We are no longer in an adversarial relationship with God, living in rebellion, lawlessness, and fear. Paul attributes peace to being justified through faith! (5:1) What Jesus did at the cross was to bring us to justification - a removal of the sin barrier between us and God.

We can never have peace in our hearts until we have peace with God through grace as a basis for facing the realities and struggles of life. A peaceful heart is the result of…

- Making Godly Decisions (Romans 2:10 “…peace for everyone who does good…”)

- Taking a spiritual view of life (Romans 8:6 “…To set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace…”)

- Finding peace with God (Romans 15:33 “May the God of peace be with you all. Amen.”)

God is called the “God of Peace” at least seven times in the NT. When we put our faith in Christ we begin to experience a new kind of peace that doesn’t come from a substance or from a relationship or from anything that can take us down a bad road. You can experience Peace; it comes from God.

2. YOU CAN EXPERIENCE THE GRACE OF JESUS (Romans 5:2)

We can stand in Grace because it comes through Jesus - and not our own efforts! Grace is not a sporadic revolving door condition. We are standing on a firm foundation, not clinging by our fingertips to some weak and tattered cord! Grace is that efficient…effective … empowering!

Romans 3:23-24 “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.”

Grace is God’ s gift to the unable. (18 times in Romans!). Grace teaches me of my inability. I am unable to save

myself, I need God’ s work in my life. Grace admits the need for forgiveness and help. Grace opens up access to the King! Tim Keller: “The only person who dares wake up a king at 3:00 AM for a glass of water is a child. We have that kind of access.”

“Jesus ushers into the very presence of God. He opens the door for us to the presence of the King of Kings; and when that door is opened what we find is grace, not condemnation, not judgment, not vengeance, but the sheer, undeserved, incredible kindness of God.” - Barclay

Paul’s letters are filled with the message of grace. Do we wonder why? Paul’s claim was to be the chief of sinners saved by the glorious grace of Jesus.

3. YOU CAN EXPERIENCE HOPE (Romans 5:3-5)

Suffering is still a reality but takes on new meaning. Suffering is literally 'pressure'. All kinds of pressure can come upon a Christian.. difficult circumstances, sorrow, persecution, rejection, loneliness. All of that pressure produces something in us. No one is happy to suffer, but we are alert to what God is doing through those sufferings. We all have challenges to our faith along the way. Our own doubts, Disappointments, and Failures. But we stand in hope because Grace comes from God and not ourselves.